The State of the Union address is going to be in two days.  So something interesting may come out and to be written about.  But I kind of doubt it.  So I will write something now and then see if anything is worthwhile to write about in two days.

Pretty sure Trump is going to brag about the stock market and the economy.  As a stock investor, I hope the market keeps going up even it would help Trump.  But I doubt that it will continue to climb.  The corporate tax decrease and loosening of regulations by Trump and the GOP congress will have a positive effect for a short period.  But there are many factors in the global economy for it to keep going up.  But Trump will milk it for all its worth.

The Democrats will have Joseph Kennedy III, congressman from Mass.  to give the rebuttal.  I hope he has something new and inspiring to say.  I also hope he is not given the role because of his name.  I thought somebody like Tammy Duckworth, senator from Illinois, would have been a better choice.  She has been in politics longer.  She is a female minority.  She is a war heroine.  She just called Trump a draft dodger without getting a rebuttal from Trump.  So to me she would be a perfect candidate to rebut Trump's speech.

Been having trouble with my computer so did not write over the weekend.  I was going to write that the Democrats cannot win by using government shutdown to help the dreamers.  Despite the fact that a majority of the people want to help the dreamers, more people don't want a government shutdown over it.  So finally the Democrats caved today and basically passed the same thing from Friday.  So I think despite Trump was wrong to abandon DACA and was useless in trying to get a budget passed, he came out looking better than the Democratic leadership.

If the Democrats were going to hold out, they should have insisted that there be no money for the wall.  Unlike DACA, the wall is a legitimate budget issue.  They should insist that Trump keeps his promise that Mexico pays for the wall.  The GOP framed the budget debate to Democrats wanting to help illegals while hurting the troops by shutting the government.  The Democrats should frame the debate that Trump refused or unable to get Mexico to pay for the wall as promised and thus deprived the troops money by spending it on the wall.

Notice how politicians always use security issues to justify their spending.  So if the budget is not passed, it is the troops who lose, not welfare queens.  On the liberal side, they always asks for bond money to fund schools, police and firemen.  But of course, those things should be funded by original tax money.  It is because the tax money was not spent wisely that special bonds are needed.  When the government shut down over the weekend, there was talk that the troops oversea would not be able to see the football playoffs.  But the telecasts were then deemed essential and thus was funded.  It makes me feel more secure that the troops were given these essential tools to keep us safe!

I am proud to say that I am one of those foreign born Americans who came from a shithole place.  Hong Kong, of course, is a world class city today.  But back in 1966 it was a poor British colony.  So we felt lucky to have immigrated to the U.S. at that time.  I think that is the story of most Americans, either they or their ancestors came from a terrible place to live.  Let's face it, if your country and you are doing well, why would you want to come to America.  Trump wants more people from Norway and the people of Norway say no way.

The amazing thing is the people who came from shitholes have done extremely well.  I would say that they are the reasons why America continues to lead the world.  Can you imagine what America would be like without the contributions of the Jews, the Irish, the Italians, the Asians, and the Latinos  who came?  All of these groups were at one time thought of as inferior to the WASPS that are the majority of the country.  There is no reason to believe that people who are  from Africa and Haiti that Trump mentioned will not contribute to the country as well.  He is also worried about Muslims coming.  But at one time, people were worried about Catholics coming as well.  Diversity is good and is the only chance that we end up lasting longer than empires of the past.

At this point, nothing coming out of Trump's mouth is shocking anymore.  But what is disturbing is that no matter what he says, there are many people who defend him.  They say that so what if he is politically incorrect?  This is not about political correctness.  It is about human decency.  It is also about lack of the understanding of the history of this country.

Did anyone see Oprah's speech in the Golden Globe Award show?  She sounded like someone running for president.  It seemed like a far fetched idea whenever someone mentioned that Oprah should run.  She has always said she wouldn't.  But the speech would have been well received in a convention setting.  And after Trump's improbable victory, who knows?  But if this is the beginning of her campaign, then it came thanks to, according to Seth Meyer, three words that drive Trump crazy:  Hollywood, Foreign, Press!